Printing blanket and method for manufacturing printing blanket

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a printing blanket including an elastic body that can be repeatedly used by removing a sheet is provided. According to the above of the present invention, the printing blanket includes an elastic body and a sheet bonded to the elastic body and performs printing by pressing the sheet against a printing object surface. The method includes a sheet fixing step of fixing the sheet at a periphery of a region in which the sheet is to be bonded to the elastic body; an elastic body placing step of placing the elastic body so that a bonding surface of the elastic body faces a bonding surface of the sheet that is fixed; a wax applying step of forming a wax layer on a surface of the elastic body; an adhesive applying step of applying an adhesive to at least one of the sheet and the elastic body that is provided with the wax layer on the surface thereof; and a pressing step of pressing the sheet and the elastic body against each other and bringing the sheet into close contact with the elastic body provided with the wax layer such that the adhesive is interposed therebetween while stretching the sheet along the surface.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for manufacturing a printing blanket that includes an elastic body and a sheet bonded to the elastic body and that performs printing by pressing the sheet against a printing object surface, the method comprising:
 a sheet fixing step of fixing the sheet at a periphery of a region in which the sheet is to be bonded to the elastic body; 
 an elastic body placing step of placing the elastic body so that a bonding surface of the elastic body faces a bonding surface of the sheet that is fixed, the bonding surface of the elastic body comprising an apex in a top portion thereof that faces the bonding surface of the sheet; 
 a wax applying step of applying wax on a surface of the elastic body to form a waxed elastic body with a waxed apex in the top portion thereof; 
 an adhesive applying step of applying an adhesive to at least one of the sheet and the the banding surface of the waxed elastic body; and 
 a pressing step of pressing the sheet and the waxed elastic body against each other and bringing the sheet into close contact with the waxed elastic body such that the adhesive is interposed therebetween while stretching the sheet along a bonding surface of the waxed elastic body, 
 wherein, in the pressing step, the apex in the top portion of the waxed elastic body comes into contact with the sheet before other portions of the waxed elastic body such that a force of the pressing is greater on the top portion than in other portions of the waxed elastic body, and 
 wherein the wax applying step comprises applying a thicker coating of wax on the top portion of the waxed elastic body than in the other portions of the waxed elastic body to counteract an effect of the greater force in thinning wax on the top portion more than on the other portions of the waxed elastic body. 
 
     
     
       2. The method for manufacturing the printing blanket of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the wax applying step includes
 a first wax applying step of applying wax to the surface of the elastic body over a first portion thereof, and 
 a second wax applying step of applying wax to the surface of the waxed elastic body only over a partial region of the first portion, the partial region including the top portion of the elastic body. 
 
 
     
     
       3. The method for manufacturing the printing blanket of  claim 1 ,
 wherein, in the sheet fixing step, the sheet is fixed to a frame that surrounds the region in which the sheet is to be bonded to the elastic body. 
 
     
     
       4. The method for manufacturing the printing blanket of  claim 1 ,
 wherein, in the elastic body placing step, the elastic body is placed such that the sheet and the surface of the elastic body face each other in a vertical direction. 
 
     
     
       5. The method for manufacturing the printing blanket of  claim 4 ,
 wherein, in the elastic body placing step, the elastic body is placed such that the surface of the elastic body faces upward, and 
 wherein, in the adhesive applying step, the adhesive is placed on the top portion of the waxed elastic body. 
 
     
     
       6. The method for manufacturing the printing blanket of  claim 4 ,
 wherein the pressing step includes
 a moving step of linearly moving at least one of the waxed elastic body and the sheet in the vertical direction by using moving means. 
 
 
     
     
       7. The method for manufacturing the printing blanket of  claim 1 , further comprising a removing step of removing the sheet and the adhesive from the waxed elastic body. 
     
     
       8. A printing blanket comprising:
 an elastic body comprising an apex in a top portion thereof; 
 a wax layer that covers a surface of the elastic body; 
 an adhesive that covers the wax layer; and 
 a sheet that covers the adhesive, 
 wherein a surface of the sheet includes a printing surface to which ink is transferred, and wherein a thickness of the wax layer on the surface of the elastic body in a partial region including a top portion of the elastic body is greater than a thickness of the wax layer in other regions. 
 
     
     
       9. The printing blanket of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the wax layer includes carnauba wax.